Robert Pitt, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, BCEE, University of Alabama

Shirley Clark, Ph.D., P.E., D.WRE, Penn State - HarrisburgBrandon Steets, P.E., GeoSyntec Consultants

Laboratory Evaluations to Support the Design of Biofiltration

Systems in the Southwestern U.S.

ASCE/EWRI Conference, May 16-20, 2010, Providence, RI

• Study site is a large RCRA (Resource Conservation Recovery Act) regulated field lab located in Southern California with low NPDES numeric effluent limits for stormwater (all outfalls and all events are monitored for compliance). Some permit limits include:– Cadmium: 4 µg/L– Copper: 14 µg/L– Lead: 5.2 µg/L– Mercury: 0.13 µg/L– TCDD: 2.8 X 10-8 µg/L

• Many of the permit limits would likely be exceeded for most untreated stormwater discharges, including from residential and open space areas.

Stormwater Control Performance Optimization

• With such restrictive limits, site requires designs refined to a much higher degree than in typical practice

• Need to optimize stormwater control performance through various design factors:– Treatment trains using combinations of sedimentation and media

filtration– Long sedimentation pre-treatment drainage time– Sufficient media contact time to increase control of critical

constituents– Specially-selected filtration media

• Bench-scale laboratory media testing was therefore conducted to provide needed performance and design information.

Stormwater Control Performance Optimization (cont.)

Media Testing Goals– To provide information for design (e.g., optimal media

components, depths, and contact times).– To maximize the likelihood that filtration-based treatment

controls will achieve performance objectives.– To optimize design considering the large investment

($0.10 to $1.00 per lb of media and many tons needed) and to ensure long-life before clogging or break-through.

• Bench-scale lab experiments performed by Penn State – Harrisburg and the University of Alabama

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Testing Protocol• A thorough evaluation of biofiltration media was conducted to

predict removal ability as a function of time, effects of clogging and maintenance, optimization of contact time, and changes in pore water chemistry in the filters between storms.

• The testing protocol had four phases:– Long-term column testing – pollutant removal as a function of water

and pollutant loading; highlights breakthrough/pollutant saturation, and maintenance (including recovery of media functionality and length of maintenance periods)

– Media depth testing – pollutant removal as a function of media depth (function of contact time of the runoff water with the media

– Batch kinetics testing – pollutant removal as a function of contact time; highlights optimal contact time, trade-offs with ion-exchange

– Aerobic/anaerobic testing – retention of pollutants by the media as it relates to pore-water chemistry

Constituents Evaluated during Laboratory Media Tests

• Critical site constituents (possible periodic permit exceedences if untreated): cadmium, copper, lead, zinc, oil and grease, mercury, and TCDD (2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-Dioxin).

• Other constituents listed on permit (rarely, if ever, expected to exceed permit limits if untreated): pH, TDS, sulfate, chloride, nitrates plus nitrites, fluoride, ammonia, nickel, antimony, boron, thallium, perchlorate, tritium, uranium, gross alpha, gross beta, radium, and strontium-90.

Constituents Evaluated during Laboratory Media Tests (Cont.)

• Other constituents that affect performance of media in removal of contaminants: flow rate, suspended solids, suspended sediment, particle size distribution, turbidity, sodium, calcium, magnesium,

potassium, conductivity, oxidation-reduction potential, filtered aluminum, and filtered iron.

• Other constituents that help in understanding removal mechanisms of media: COD, UV-254, phosphate, nitrate, E. coli bacteria, alkalinity, hardness, and other filtered metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb, Zn).

Long-Term Column Tests: Maintenance• Infiltration rates typically decrease over a device’s life due to

solids capture on the surface of and in the media. • Most media typically fail when the total solids loading is about 10

to 25 kg/m2 of media surface (flow rate < 1 m/d, generally).

Tried potential maintenance options when the flow rate decreased to 5 m/d (effects of disturbing media vs. removing media from filter).

Media removal generally more effective, but must remove at least 4 – 6” because clogging solids are captured deep in the media (deeper than visible solids buildup).

Long-Term Column Test Results: Pollutant Removal

• Of individual media types studied, peat and GAC demonstrated best removal for total and dissolved copper (although note the relatively high influent concentrations)

•Primary copper removal mechanism appears to be physical straining (of particulate-associated phase) and organic complexation with peat components rather than cation exchange

GAC

Peat moss

GACPeat moss

Site Sand

Layered filter media combination currently in use

Recommended biofiltration mixed media combination

Column Test Results: Pollutant Removal(paired sign test of influent vs. effluent)

Other findings (data not shown here):• The bioretention media combination met all current site permit limits,

except for copper and mercury during peak conditions (not expected to occur), and had significant removals for all constituents measured, except for phosphorus and gross beta radioactivity.

• The current site layered media combination resulted in all effluent samples meeting the current site permit limits, except for a slightly elevated pH, when maximum site runoff conditions were considered.

R = rhyolite; SMZ = surface modified zeolite; GAC = granular activated carbon; PM = peat moss; S = site sand; Z = site zeoliteT = removal for total form (unfiltered); F = removal for filtered form (passed through 0.45-µm membrane filter)

Media Performance Plots for Copper, Full-Depth Long-Term Column Tests

14 µg/L limit

Dioxin Control Observations

• The dioxin results indicate good control. However, few data are available due to the complexities and costs of the analyses.

• Two of the three effluent observations for each media were below the detection limit. The R-SMZ-GAC and layered media column each had a single detected effluent dioxin value at about 1/3 of the permit limit.

• The detected effluent concentrations were at least an order of magnitude less than the observed influent concentrations for these two media mixtures, showing good removals to close to, or below, the extremely low site permit limit.

2.8 X 10-8 µg/L permit limit

These samples were less than the detection limit

Ratios of Media Capacity to Clogging Period R-SMZ

R-SMZ-GAC

R-SMZ-GAC-PM

Site Sand-GAC-Site Zeolite Layered

Cadmium, Total >230 >170 >130 >150Copper, Total >2.2 >3.4 >1.7 >2.2Gross Alpha radioactivity >0.3 >0.3 >0.2 >0.2Lead, Total >2.1 >1.6 >0.9 >0.9

Mercury >250 >230 >130 >140

Oil and Grease 0.1 >0.1 >0.1 <0.1

TCDD >3.1 >2.5 >1.3 >1.5

Breakthrough Capacity Compared to Clogging Period

Green: will clog before breakthroughRed: breakthrough before clogging

R-SMZR-SMZ-GAC

R-SMZ-GAC-PM

Site Sand-GAC-Site Zeolite Layered

Load to clogging (kg/m2) 7.5 - 38 11 - 53 11 - 55 6.5 - 33

Years to replacement 12 - 58 16 - 81 17 - 84 10 - 50

Cumulative Particulate Loading to Failure and Expected Years of Operation for Largest Sedimentation-Biofiltration Treatment Trains on Project Site

• Seven of the site biofilters were evaluated for clogging potential and chemical removal capacity. The biofilters were from about 1 to 10% of the drainage areas in size and had sedimentation pre-treatment.

• All of the media combinations would likely have an operational life of at least 10 years for the constituents of greatest concern, with the exception of oil and grease for the layered media.

Batch Testing Results: Contact Time

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Minimal filtered metal removal observed for all media except peat when contact time <10 minutes.

The optimal contact times for filtered metals removal ranged from 10 to 1,000 minutes, depend-ing on the metal and the media type.

Peat mossGAC

Site zeolite

Surface modified zeolite

Rhyolite sandInfluent test water

Varying Depth Column Test Results

• These tests determined the effect of contact time on pollutant removal. Longer contact times should enhance pollutant removals because the likelihood of making a favorable contact with the media increases.

• Only the GAC showed good removals of nitrate, with the removal ability being best with the deepest column. GAC therefore has a limited capacity for nitrate and increasing the amount of GAC in contact with the passing influent water increases the length of time that excellent removals occur.

Site Recommendations• Replace the current layered media mixtures with rhyolite

sand-surface modified zeolite-granular activated carbon (and possibly with peat) mixture due to cost savings, less maintenance, and improved effectiveness.

• Recommended contact time of stormwater with the treatment media is 10 to 40 min, corresponding to slow to moderate treatment flow rates of about 5 to 60 m/day (1 to 15 gal/min/ft2). Outlet control for the flows is likely to be more consistent and reliable than gravity drainage of the media at these flow rates.

• Media thickness should be 2 to 3 ft to provide sufficient contact time with the media and to have sufficient treatment capacity before the system fails due to clogging.

Example Relationship between Media Depth and Contact Time

• The most robust media were the mixed media, especially those having the largest variety of materials (R-SMZ-GAC; R-SMZ-GAC-PM; and site sand-GAC-site zeolite). It is important that mixtures be used for treatment to provide redundancy in removal for likely varying conditions.

• The site sand-GAC-site zeolite combination was tested as a layered combination, but it may perform better if mixed rather than separated by layers because the contact time with the zeolite and GAC will be greater and clogging likely occurs on the layer interfaces.

Conclusions